IKEA’s first record player is part of the new collection Obegränsad(‘limitless’), aimed at people who make music at home. Completely in black,the collection is the result of a collaboration between Swedish dance DJsSwedish House Mafia and Friso Wiersma, the only Dutch in-house designer atIKEA. The collection includes a special desk, cabinets, racks and bags thatexactly fit LPs and even slippers. But the eye-catcher is the minimalistrecord player.
“Vinyl in itself is something irrational. Other minimalist turntables areoften thin and slim, but I chose a rather thick, chunky design. The recordplayer can take up a lot of space in your interior, you also make a statementwith it,” says Wiersma from Sweden. The record player has a turntable that ispartly positioned over the edge of the housing. “This emphasizes the circle.The circle also plays a major role in the visual identity of Swedish HouseMafia,” explains Wiersma.
The turntable has a built-in preamplifier, a replaceable cartridge and needle,and a USB-C power cable. Connecting to speakers is done with a simple RCAcable. “We wanted to make a very accessible record player. Simple to use andin shape,” says Wiersma.
The romance of spinning pictures
The turntable is not intended for audiophiles. “It is for people who are juststarting out with vinyl. It is as much ‘plug-and-play’ as possible. It isabout the essence of playing records. Everything is deliberately not digital.We therefore do not have a bluetooth function for wireless streaming tospeakers or headphones built-in.”
According to Wiersma, the cables also deliberately run along the side insteadof the back. “That’s why you can see them well. Cables are part of the analogexperience.” If you want better sound quality later on, you can replace theAudio Technica brand cartridge with a more expensive one. Wiersma: “I think itsounds super good. I’ve already exchanged my own old Philips record player forthis record player.”
The Dutch designer himself is a music fanatic and a great lover of vinyl. “Themusic experience is very different from Spotify or Apple Music. You’re almostschizophrenic listening through playlists and shuffle from one artist toanother. The great thing about records is the idea that artists have createdsomething from scratch. builds up to the end. In short, music as the artistintended. And it’s also a pleasant way to listen. I like the romance of it,the act of turning a record.”
Stimulating creativity
The Dutchman is one of fourteen in-house designers at IKEA and has previouslydesigned furniture, salad bowls and cutlery. “But this collection suits me themost, because music is a very big passion of mine. I also make music and sing,and used to be in a band. I’ve always had a record player too. Music is a wayof life for me and I also go to concerts a lot. There are a lot of people formusic is very important and they want that reflected in their interior.”
The Swedish furniture chain often comes up with special collections aimed athobbies, such as cooking or gaming. Obegränsad responds to the growing groupthat makes music themselves on their laptop or tablet. “We want to stimulatethat creativity and interaction. That is why this collection has, among otherthings, a producers desk, a desk with a layout aimed at producing music.Together with Swedish House Mafia we have thought about how to set up a studioat home. They also used to have their own own studio built with IKEAfurniture.” The desk also has two speaker stands and a shelf that can bepulled out from under the desktop, for example for a midi keyboard.
In addition to the record player, Wiersma is also proud of the clock in thenew collection. That is a black circle in which three small white circlesrevolve around each other. “Music can give time a different kind of role. Wewanted a way to convey that sense of intimacy.”
Chat at the bar with IKEA CEO
Wiersma calls the fact that he ended up at IKEA five years ago ‘just luck’. “Igot to talk to an IKEA CEO at the bar after a design conference in Amsterdam.We immediately clicked and was invited for a conversation in Sweden. I comefrom a Frisian family with carpenters. I love craft and design. down toearth is aimed at real use. IKEA is also very involved in this, design isvery close to the consumer. What you want to say as a designer is subordinateto that.”
In his time as a student, Wiersma didn’t like IKEA. “I saw IKEA as my enemythen. I made furniture that cost at least a thousand euros because it washandmade. You then have to compete against an IKEA that sells everything for afew hundred euros. I did a project about what I would do differently if I hadan industrial process like IKEA available. Robot techniques and computer-controlled machines are making more and more possible.”
Probably sold out quickly
Wiersma’s record player is available from October 1 for 129 euros, but theedition is limited. IKEA therefore expects that the turntable will be sold outquickly. “This is a kind of experiment. We are curious how this will bereceived. But it has already received so much attention worldwide in recentmonths. The record player was for sale in Belgium for a day due to a mistakeand was immediately sold out. TikTok videos about it have been viewed millionsof times.”
Finally: what is Wiersma’s favorite LP? “From Chet Baker. By the way, my wifeand I buy each other new LPs every few weeks at the local record store. We’relucky: one of the best record stores in all of Sweden is right here in our